Month: October 2017

One of Barnard’s earliest and most excellent photographs includes two of them, both in the star-cluster M8. The larger, which is roughly rectangular in outline, contains one little star, and…

One of Barnard’s earliest and most excellent photographs includes two of them, both in the star-cluster M8. The larger, which is roughly rectangular in outline, contains one little star, and its smaller neighbor is lune-shaped — surely a most singular form for such an object.

Just above the southern horizon of our northern middle latitudes, in summer, where the Milky Way breaks up into vast sheets of nebulous luminosity, lying over and between the constellations…

Just above the southern horizon of our northern middle latitudes, in summer, where the Milky Way breaks up into vast sheets of nebulous luminosity, lying over and between the constellations Scorpio and Sagittarius, there is a remarkable assemblage of coal-sacks, though none is of great size.

Already at the Sydney Observatory photographs have shown that the southern portion of this Dead Sea of Space is not quite bottomless, although its northern part defies the longest sounding…

Already at the Sydney Observatory photographs have shown that the southern portion of this Dead Sea of Space is not quite bottomless, although its northern part defies the longest sounding lines of the astronomer. There is a similar, but less perfect, coal-sack in the northern hemisphere.

The dimensions of the lagoon of darkness, which is oval or pear-shaped, are eight degrees by five, so that it occupies a space in the sky about one hundred and…

The dimensions of the lagoon of darkness, which is oval or pear-shaped, are eight degrees by five, so that it occupies a space in the sky about one hundred and thirty times greater than the area of the full moon. It attracts attention as soon as the eye is directed toward the quarter where it exists.

All around, up to the very edge of the yawning gap, the sheen of the Milky Way is surpassingly glorious; but there, as if in obedience to an almighty edict,…

All around, up to the very edge of the yawning gap, the sheen of the Milky Way is surpassingly glorious; but there, as if in obedience to an almighty edict, everything vanishes. A single faint star is visible within the opening, producing a curious effect upon the sensitive spectator.

It was another of the magical wonders of the unknown South, and as such it formed the basis of many a wild surmise and many a sea-dog’s yarn. Scientific investigation…

It was another of the magical wonders of the unknown South, and as such it formed the basis of many a wild surmise and many a sea-dog’s yarn. Scientific investigation has not diminished its prestige, and today no traveler in the southern hemisphere is indifferent to its fascinating strangeness.